Election and police officials in Western Visayas are looking at improvements to the early voting and monitoring system amid its success in the conduct of the May 12 midterm polls in the region.
In an interview on Tuesday, Comelec VI Regional Election Director Lawyer Dennis Ausan said they have to look into improving the exclusive early voting for persons with disability, senior citizens, and heavily pregnant women because of its successful implementation.
“We will look into that possibility. We cannot just implement it because it will involve many barangays; it might dislocate others. But one thing is certain, we will look into it or evaluate how to improve,” he said.
He said he was even surprised that, as of 5 p.m. on Monday, they had already counted over 255,000 voters due to the early voting.
Ausan also lauded the effective implementation of the regional,provincial, municipal, and city election monitoring action centers, which cover real-time incidents on the ground.
Police Regional Office in Western Visayas (PRO6) spokesperson Lt. Col. Arnel Solis said the regional election monitoring action center (REMAC) is a platform for monitoring all over the region.
Through live feeds from the ground, the REMAC can see even the conduct of checkpoints all over the region in real time.
“We have a system provided by the PNP (Philippine National Police) where we can monitor deployment of paraphernalia, automated counting machines, and of course, for easy reporting, either from higher office down to the police stations or when there are needed data from local police station to regional office,” he said.
The PNP started the REMAC almost two months ago, and other agencies, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard joined one week before the elections.
Other agencies joined on the day of the elections.
“This is one thing that we have to improve because as I have discussed with (Brig.) Gen. (Jack) Wanky and (Maj.) Gen. Michael Samson that the technology is available; why don’t we make use of that,” Ausan said.
Meanwhile, the region has no major election-related crime incidents during the midterm polls.
Wanky cited the massive deployment of police personnel, mobilization of volunteer groups, and intensified advocacy campaigns as pivotal factors in preventing untoward incidents and other poll-related violence.
“We saw it coming. Our preparations were serious and proactive,” he said in a statement.
He assured the public that PRO6 would continue its operational deployments in the region until all election paraphernalia, particularly the automated counting machines, were safely pulled out and all election results transmitted.
“The PRO-6 will remain vigilant and on the lookout for potential security concerns that may arise in the post-election period,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ausan said the elections have been successful so far, with just a few minor technical concerns immediately addressed at the precinct level or the technical hubs.
He said they hope to complete the proclamation of winners by early Wednesday morning, as the casting of votes in one precinct in Caluya, Antique continues.
Less than 10 towns in the region have yet to proclaim the winners.
In Aklan, the municipality of Buruanga has problems with the printing of the statement of votes by precinct, which serves as the basis for the certificate of canvass, and they are still trying to address the concern.
Libacao, also in Aklan, is still waiting for transmission of results from its two far-flung sitios.
“It will not delay the provincial level, only the municipal level,” Ausan said. (PNA)
